PNP takes threats vs. PRRD seriously - Abayalde

Manila, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP)
chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said that law enforcement officials are
taking the reports of threats to the life of President Rodrigo Duterte
seriously.

"We take and consider all the threats against the life
of the President seriously," the PNP chief said addressing the
reporters on Wednesday.

Abayalde added that they do not dismiss the supposed threats
whether foreign or domestic.

"(I want) to debunk some inaccurate reports sourced
from some misquoted information attributed to me as having issued statements to
the effect that there is no threat on the life of the president. For good
measure we take the security concerns of the president very seriously .We
always assume that there is a continuing threat on the life of the President as
we are taking it seriously because there is always that possibility that some
interest groups may want him out of their way including the underground
communist movement, local terrorist organizations and even foreign
entities," Albayalde said .

He stressed that all reported threats on the President’s
life should be taken seriously especially since the information came from
Duterte himself.

"We cannot all say that these are all fictitious. These
are all raw intelligence information that needs to be validated," Abayalde
added.

The PNP chief also stressed out that at the onset of the
government's war on drugs, there had already been reports of drug lords
offering an assassination contract worth PHP100 million for the President and
former PNP chief and now Bureau of Corrections Director Ronald dela Rosa.*

"I honestly believe that the Armed Forces of the
Philippines and the Philippine National Police can adequately protect the
president against anyone who wish him harm," Albayalde added

Last Friday, President Duterte revealed in a speech during
the Hugpong ng Pagbabago’s oath taking event, that United State’s Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) wanted him dead.

“Who are you to warn us? You meet me in a forum and
I will invite everybody interested. You state your case why you are against my
country acquiring submarines. Give me the reasons why and make it public.
You want us to remain backwards,” President Duterte said.

This statement of the president came after a high-ranking US
official warned the government against its plan to purchase military equipment
from Russia.

"I think they should think very carefully about
that,"US Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver said in a roundtable
interview on August 16.

“If they were to proceed with purchasing major Russian
equipment, I don't think that's a helpful thing to do [in our] alliance and I
think ultimately we can be a better partner than the Russians can
be," Schriver added.